Cancel Culture in Constructing National Identity of the Caspian Macro-region Countries (on the Example of Textbooks in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan)

Abstract

The process of the formation of independent states on the territories of post-Soviet republics raised the problem of the construction of their national identities. This process was propelled by the rejection of Soviet identity and the cultural legacy of the Soviet era. This rejection necessitated a reinterpretation of the historical past of the nations and a revision of the pantheon of national heroes. To achieve this goal, the mechanism of cancel culture was used, which aimed at rejecting the values of a certain culture and constructing a new worldview. In this research, we are interested in the Caspian macro-region, which is an object of interest both geopolitically and economically not only for the five international actors (Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Azerbaijan) having access to the water area but also for more distant states (China, Turkey, the USA, and leading European countries) fighting for influence in the Caspian basin. In the Caspian region there is heightened tension, manifested in ethnic conflicts (Armenian-Azerbaijani, Kazakhstan, Iran, etc.), therefore the study of the process of national identity construction in each subject individually and in the whole region is not only a matter of scientific interest but also a strategic task to ensure both Caspian and Russian security. The main purpose of the article is to analyze the mechanisms of constructing a new national identity of the Caspian countries through the cancel culture, reconsidering their experience and historical development. This process can be seen most clearly in the example of changes in the educational systems of the Caspian region countries. To conduct a comparative analysis, we took history and local history textbooks from secondary schools and institutions of higher education in the republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This research was limited to the study of textbooks published in the Russian language. The selection was made by random sampling. A series of research projects on the construction of national identity in the post-Soviet space through the mechanism of cancel culture starts with this article presenting the results of the study of two countries in the Caspian Sea region — Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.